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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Rasmalai for Indian Cooking Challenge!!

It has been a while since I participated in Indian Cooking Challenge.Though at first it was not intentional,after a point I became lazy[sorry Valli:)].But this month’s Challenge shook me out of my slumber existence.I love Bengali sweets,all of them.Rasgulla,Mishti Doi,Rasmalai,Cham cham,you name it,I love them all.

I have tried making Rasgulla once,a while back.The reason it has not featured here yet is self explanatory,it was a super flop.I followed the instructions very carefully and did exactly as the recipe said but still ended up with a hard mass of white balls which ‘would have been Rasgullas’.Thankfully,Ajay encourages me in all my ventures and equally provides me with necessary solace when things don’t work well.He always says,close your eyes and dump everything in the waste bin when I encounter unsuccessful cooking experiments[there have been many].

One hot,humid afternoon,I donned my apron and started work on ICC.Everything went on smoothly and I was surprised at how easy it actually was.My camera was missing mysteriously right when I needed it and all the pics are taken with my Phone Camera.

I followed the lesser quantity version which yielded me 6 rasmalais.You can find the original recipe here.

Verdict – History repeats??Here too,I followed the instructions carefully,but ended up with hard paneer balls.The ras/evaporated milk tasted awesome though.I really did not have the heart to throw this off,so I added some nuts to the Milk and served it in a bowl,chilled.Tasted almost like Kheer and I’m glad I did not have to waste the whole thing.

Good attempt Divya at these Rasmalai. I admit I too had disaster in my first attempt at making Rasgulla, but got them right the second time. I guess I was just lucky I say! ;) Probably try adding a pinch of baking powder, that may help it puff up with air pockets. Honestly, I would agree that I am more better off taking pleasure in the store bought ones than slog making these at home ;)

Check manjula's kitchen video,i learnt making rasgullas and ras malai from her videos,she says if panner is hard while making dough sprinkle little water and knead well and make balls.It is always good to pressure cook the balls.

Even I was apprehensive before preparing my first ever rasagullas. I followed Sailu's recipe to the T, and I have been making them over and over again. Being in Chennai, milk gets spoiled every now and then and I turn them into rasagullas.

Divya - i too was surprised how "easy" this challenge came together. it was my first time making these. I followed the lesser quantity recipe as well. the paneer balls came out pillowy soft, almost like a sponge. But my problem is - I didn't like the TASTE. I know - SHOCKING. I just didn't think it was sweet enough, and I didn't like the spongy texture of the malai balls. I regretted not adding sugar to the paneer!Do you think maybe you cooked the paneer too much in the pressure cooker? They were very spongy when they came out of the cooker for me, when i squeezed them to get the sugar syrup out they looked like they were going to collapse, i had to be very ginger about it.Unfortunately for me, even though everything worked out as a success at my first try, i'm just not happy with the taste. i'm a GULAB JAMUN girl =)

Sandhya here...i have been following ur blog from 2-3 weeks..n i just love ur blog...n ur write ups r very good. i read ur post about rasmalai..n i ws sad tht paneer balls came out hard.

Divya, i have tried rasmalai's qiute a number of times..n it always came out pretty good.so i thought i can sharewith u whatever little i know about it.

when u r ready to make the paneer plz make sure tht u have sufficient ice cubes wth u in ur freezer.boil 1 litre of milk..as it strts boiling, add lemon juice, n as soon as the milk starts curdling, n u can c the whey separatingfrom the paneer switch off the gas and add the ice cubes.let it sit fr 2 mins.wht this does is, the ice cubes stop the process of cooking, n what u gt is soft paneer n not hard paneer, strain it.hang it fr 30 mins..so tht all water drips out.take tht hung paneer wth tht muslin cloth n keep it on another cloth, fold it n knead it nicely atleast fr 5 mins.but as ice cubes have been added, the cheese is already soft, so u dnt have to knead fr long time. make balls out of it.add 1 cup of sugar n 6 cups of water in a vessel n keep it to boil.when it starts boiling vigorously, add the balls,n close the lid fully. the amt of heat tht is reqd fr the cheese to remain intact is very high, close the lid fully fr 10 minsthe steam tht is generated helps the balls to puff up. aftr 10 mins open n check it will have increased in size...

Divya this is what i follow when i make rasmalai. hope this will help u too... best of luck

Ok as a punishment for being lazy you are going to select the next one..:)..Reading yours, I can plan how I am going to do..doing it right now..its 9 pm..heheheh..so will have it up only twm..pls link yours once mine is out..

It really looks good. It looks yumm.. yea to get the rasgulla consistency is hard. I make good rasmali (tooting my own horn). I have made it for poojas and parties, as much up to 150 rasmalais. I can give some pointers. I learned to make rasgulla from Kichu Khon (Sharmila's website). She is a bengali so I figured they know best. I used cup measurement, 4 cups of milk and 2 cups water for the pressure cooker. One thing I can say is that I use fresh lemons to spilt milk and draining of water completely is essential. I hang it in refrigerator. Secondly, I use 2 whistles on high and 2 on low. My rasmalais are always soft. Hope this helps.-Anu

they do look soft perfect and delicious..the hard balls could result if the paneer is not kneaded well, like for instance the chenna is somewhat granular ,each grain has to be pressed with the tip of your finger to form a smooth paste to form soft rasgullas

I just finished making these for ICC and have the same issue...not posted it yet though... was reading a lot of other tips after the disaster... and everything says abt having the right amt of water in the paneer...

I have made ras malai lots of times for bdays and even for small parties and they have come out perfect, i have the recipe on my blog, do check out if you wish. Try using cow's milk to get super soft paneer, also once you drain your paneer add some chilled cold water, this also increases the softness. Hope this helps :)

Hi Divya,Ramalai does look yumm :).Sorry that they didn't turn out soft.I too used the smaller measurement and made 15 tiny rasmalai pieces.Loved the challenge.Many time I too have closed my eyes and dropped of dishes into the bin but hubby never knows;)

Divs, have u tried baking the balls first and then adding it to the ras? I followed that recipe from one of the blogs (dont remb which one)...It came out ok (the shape was retained and though the patties were a little bit caramelised, it didnt affect the taste even a pinch), and the taste was good.